Earthquakes and Hurricanes and Tornadoes, Oh My!

Earthquake - On Tuesday, August 23rd there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Virginia, and its effects were felt in NYC. I was in the subway when the earthquake happened, so I didn't actually feel any of the tremors but I was still here in NYC for it and was part of the evacuations that followed. I also experienced the lack of cell service that was discussed in the news.

Hurricane - Early this morning, Hurricane Irene hit NYC. I already blogged about the preparations, but Irene ended up being a non-event in most of Manhattan. There was some flooding in Battery Park, but in my neighborhood there were just a lot of leaves on the ground as well as some branches. I woke up every couple of hours and turned the TV on throughout the night last night, but I didn't hear the wind at all. I did sleep on my futon and closed my bedroom door so I was not near any windows so that could be the reason. There are some areas in New York and along the east coast that are experiencing significant flooding from Irene. Tonight I am thankful to have power.

Tornado - there was no tornado touchdown in NYC, but we were under a tornado watch from about 9pm last night until 5am this morning. I guess tornadoes are not uncommon with hurricanes.

Hunker Down (Hurricane Speak for "Bring It")

It is about 5pm right now in NYC and I am hunkered down in my apartment. I just learned the term "hunker down" yesterday from my cool friends, but today on CNN I have heard the term quite a bit. Hunker down means you are prepared and at the location where you are ready to ride out the storm.

Irene is currently heading straight towards NYC, and the meteorologists are predicting that we will start seeing harsh effects from Hurricane Irene at about midnight tonight. Right now it is on path to potentially be a direct hit.

Fortunately I am not in an evacuation zone - that means that I am not at risk for flooding from a storm surge. Also, it is good that I live on the second floor and have only one window in my apartment. They said the biggest risk for windows shattering are those on the 10th floor and above. Since the window is in my bedroom, tonight I am planning to sleep on my futon and closing my bedroom doors just to stay away from the window.

I started preparing for the hurricane about 48 hours ago. I bought 4 gallons of water on Thursday night, and then last night I went to Trader Joe's to pick up some non-perishable food. I went to the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side, and had to wait in a line just to get in the grocery store. I tried to buy a flashlight and batteries last night, but I waited too long to do that. Home Depot and Bed, Bath & Beyond both had signs up that said no flashlights or batteries. I do have some Yankee Candles that I can burn (I do have matches) and a crank flashlight that does work.

Otis and Sam are both sleeping and have no idea what is coming. I have moved their carriers from the top of my refrigerator to the ground so I can easily get to them if I need to. They have plenty of food on hand. I am also going to fill up both my bathtub and kitchen sink before I go to bed tonight just in case.

This morning I got up early and went to the gym, and then I walked around the Upper East Side and took some pictures of the hurricane preparations.

This picture was actually taken last night, but most stores had a sign similar to this on their door.

The calm before my storm outside the window of my apartment. I do like the fact that the building to the right sticks out further than my building, and there are buildings directly across the way. That should block some of the wind.

This is what I have been doing most of the day. Switching between CNN and the local NBC news.

My food rations if needed.

This is how Otis is preparing for Irene.

Biscuits & Bath is ready to put some sandbags out.

Some of the stores had duct tape on their windows.

I did not duct tape or board my window...I read that it really didn't do much and it was not suggested.

H&H was still open and had a long line...bagels must be a good hurricane food.

The little deli's were putting out their winter glass protectors.

I saw duct tape on a lot of these things...maybe to keep water from going in the cracks?

Lots of water.

Starbucks was closed already.

This is Morton Williams on my corner. It is never busy, but today it was packed!

Another window with duct tape.

Sam is nervous about the impending hurricane.

She was also looking out the window at the rain.

Their cat post is moved out from my bedroom because they like to sleep on this.

So all I do now is wait. Please join me in praying for God's mercy on NYC!

The Big Day

The Wednesday at the reunions are always called "The Big Day." The Austin Family usually cooks breakfast, we take our group pictures, and we have an afternoon meal and an auction to raise money for the next reunion. This year we also organized a volleyball tournament...we got it started, but it ended up getting rained out and we didn't have another day to finish it.

At breakfast with Brian, Sun and Eva

Third cousins...Megan, Courtney and Laci

With Grandma Hazel at the group pictures

Ashley and Austin

Both Grandma's

Our volleyball sign-up sheet - Kellyn organized this

Our immediate family with the Grandma's

Beginning of the volleyball tournament

Tournament bracket

Grandma Lois on her way out to the tent for the afternoon meal

Kelli and I (she is a second cousin)

Megan

After we ate, Allen organized The Newleywed Game - Kellyn and Coby participated

The girls - Katie, Kellyn, Ashley, Amber and Tara

The "Oldywed" Game

Side by Side

Here is a side by side of the then and now reenactment. Since I don't have any photo editing programs, I asked my Uncle Kevin to do this for me...thank you :)

That Was Then, This Is Now

In 1988 we had a family reunion at Jellystone Park (which was right near the sand dunes where we rented the Jeeps). On the way back we drove by and Yogi Bear was still standing there, so we decided to do a reenactment picture.

This is 1988...

and this is 2011.

I guess none of us had good memory of the original picture, because Kyle and I should have switched sides and Mom should have been in the picture as well.

The Cone of Shame

Sam is in the cone of shame for the next 10-14 days. She has had a sore on her stomach for the past month and a half, and it keeps getting somewhat better but then I will notice it bleeding again. So, I took her to the vet this morning to get it checked out.

The vet diagnosed it as an eosinophilic plaque. Here is a good website describing the Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex.

I have to put medicine on it 3 times a day and Sam HATES it...my neighbors probably think I am killing her or something. I think it is kind of funny when she makes so much noise :)

Jeeps!

On Tuesday we did a little Horton Hiatus to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. We rented three jeeps between everyone and had a blast!